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This week we would like to introduce you to Iranian tea that we call ‘Cha-ee’ or ‘chai’. Tea makes up a greater part of Persian culture than you can imagine. It’s just as important as coffee is for Dutch people.

Tea is for every moment of the day

Every morning, in houses all over Iran, a gas burner flickers to life under a kettle and will continue to boil all day long. It boils through morning prayers, lunches of rice and kebabs, afternoon conversations, late into the evening meals and keeps on boiling well into the night during chats about politics, gossip and news.

Tea has a key role in Iranian houses. Wherever you go, people will offer you a cup of tea. It would be strange if they wouldn’t do so. And if you go to old cafes, they will immediately serve you a cup of tea without asking you. You will see a waiter who walks around with a big tray, full of glasses of teas.

The question is, what kind of tea do they drink?

Iranian tea is kind of black tea, which is growing in the Caspian Sea area. It has a very nice smell that you can’t really compare with Earl Grey or English breakfast tea.This tea has a strawy-gold colour and an incredibly refreshing aroma. Slightly sweet, without a hint of bitterness. If you are a real tea enthusiast, you will feel a zesty, citrus twist and an interesting nutty note.

Besides black tea, herbal tea is gaining more and more popularity in Iran, especially in the capital Tehran. Herbal tea consists solely of spices and is an healthy alternative to the obvious caffeine-rich black tea.

Tea has to have a high quality

Having a high quality tea in Iranian houses is very important. High quality tea can be recognized by their color, taste and smell. Beside the quality of the tea, the way of brewing a nice cup of tea is even more important. There are so many Iranians who don’t drink tea from a tea bag. One of those people is my dad. He only drinks tea that is brewed, else he asks for a coffee ( he is also coffee drinker. I think he is big fan of caffeine). At first, when I moved to Netherlands I brewed tea by putting a teapot on candelabras. Now I have the same equipment as you can find in other Iranian houses. So when my dad comes to visit me here in the Netherlands, I can offer him a nice cup of Iranian tea.

How to brew Iranian tea

In almost every Iranian house, you find a kettle or samovar, which includes two parts. The first is the kettle for water and the second part is a teapot that you should place on top of the kettle. You add some loose tea and hot water in the teapot and let it brew for 10 minutes (or even longer!). Then comes the Persian way of pouring tea. First pour some of the hot tea into a cup to check its color. It must be quite dark else the color is too light; a sign that it hasn’t brewed long enough. This is affecting the taste and is a big problem. As you may understand, brewing tea the Iranian tea requires some patience.

How to serve Iranian tea

Iranian people mainly drink tea which has a rather dark color (por rang) or people who cares about their health (and don’t like too much caffeine) drink their tea with a lighter color (kam rang). You can serve a lighter coloured tea by adding hot water.

It’s very common to serve the deep color thee. But this tastes rather bitter. Some people are used to it, but honestly, I don’t like it. I am more in between: not too dark, not too light. I would like to taste the tea. When you are at family or friends’ places, they will ask you how deep color you like the tea, so you have a choice .

Add herbs to your tea

To spice up the tea, people may add herbs such as saffron, cardamom, cinnamon or a paddle of roses when the tea is nearly ready. These bring some nice smell and taste. But still the bitter taste is there. You can also chose to only use herbs to make tea! A healthy and surprising alternative!

Drink your tea with something sweat

Last but not least, tea is served with sugar cubes (ghand), sugar crystals (nabat) or some pastries. I always eat it with a pastry.Iranian pastries are quite yummy. Later I will post about Iranian pastries as well.

Drinking tea with family and friends is always very nice and very gezellig . If you enjoy your tea you can say: Bah Bah ajab chaee (it means: such a nice tea). This compliment can make the relations more stronger, just give it a try Persians love hearing compliments.

If you like to try Iranian black tea from Lahijan, come and visit us on Sunday October 2nd at Soul Market in Helmond . We also offer Iranian herbal tea in our website , just click here. In upcoming weeks I also will write about herbals teas and their benefits very soon. Have a nice week, we hope to see some of you on Sunday in Helmond.

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